Offering promotional objects to consumers can be an effective way to build a brand, build loyalty, and increase consumer awareness. Yet, promotional items may be costly to produce and distribute, and demand for promotional items might not be easy to estimate. Inaccurate estimates may lead to either scarcity or waste. Similarly, a business that offers products for sale may often make investments in product inventory well in advance of sales, so inaccurate demand estimates may have a deleterious effect on business performance. Even for businesses that do not maintain a stock of product inventory, costs associated with product manufacturing and delivery are seemingly inevitable.